There are a lot of great things about sports, all sports, and winning is certainly one of them. Of
course most people will tell you that it's simply the thrill of competing that motivates them and
that winning is just the icing on the cake. Now that I think about it those may be the same people
who never win. Then there are those like the long-suffering Chicago Cubs fans who just enjoy
watching their team compete even if they haven't won a championship since 1908. Ok, so maybe
"enjoy" isn't the right word, but they continually support their team and hope that someday, one
day before they die the Cubs will win a championship. Drag racers are no different. They go out and
race and challenge for a win at a national or divisional event, and even though the odds are
against them (based on the number of entrants in each class) they return week after week to try and
try again, and once they win they can't wait to do it again. Of course getting that first win is
never easy and there are racers who have tried for years, decades even and never succeeded, but the
great thing about drag racers is they won't give up. It's just not in their nature, and if you
don't believe me just ask Leo Zynda.

Leo Zynda' Super Gas car.

Leo is a sixty-two year old man from Clinton Township, Michigan, who has been running his own
business, the Ring & Pinion Shop, for over forty years and he has been racing for almost as many
years. "I started with a 1969 Chevy Nova that I ran in the old Modified Eliminator" he said. "It
was your classic car, a small-block Chevy, about277 cubic inches that had lots of rpm's and not
much power." Well, I'm not sure I've ever heard a Modified Production car described quite that way
but it was Leo's car so he should know. Leo ran that car at the first NHRA Sportsnationals in
Bowling Green in 1974 and he also competed at local tracks, like Milan Dragway, in and around his
Michigan home. "After that we went to a four-cylinder, Pontiac-powered dragster that ran in the
F/ED class." While he didn't state how many rpm's or how much power it made Leo did say that he had
some success with the little dragster. "It was a pretty quick car," he said. "We were the number
two qualifier at Indy in 1987, and during the year we made it down to the quarter-finals here and
the semi-finals there but were never able to break through and win the big one." By the "big one"
he means an NHRA national event but he was able to go to a couple of finals at the divisional level
and he won the Great Lakes race in 1988. "It was a good car but after a while it started to require
more money and more work than I wanted to put into it." When he means more work he means things
like putting the flywheel back in place between rounds. "Yeah, we made a run at Indy at about 149
miles per hour and when we came back to the pits to work on it the flywheel fell off. Imagine
that!" Shortly after that minor incident Leo decided to switch to the Super categories. "That was
in 1991 and I have never looked back."

Leo Zynda's Super Comp car.

His entry into the Super Gas category was rather unspectacular. "I started with the Chevrolet
Cavalier that had a 350 engine." And over twenty years later he still has that same little Chevy.
"It's been a very good car and has had a few upgrades but basically it's the same. It now has a 565
cubic inch engine with Dart heads and Stinnett carburetors. It's nothing elaborate but it gets the
job done." That car, which has literally made thousands of passes down the track, carried Leo to
several divisional final rounds and a couple of wins. "I guess you could say I got my money's worth
from it." Now that's an understatement.

As good as the Cavalier has been it was his other car that took Leo to the long-awaited national
event win. "I have a Super Comp dragster that Ken Bowers built. It also has a 565 engine, a Dart
Big Chief, with all the standard stuff and it is a very god car." And it was the best car at the
recently completed Sportsnationals in Columbus. "I got into the Shootout that they have and I did
well there," he said, "and then Sunday came and things just seemed to fall into place." A second
round red-light by his opponent, an 8.90 in the third round, a fifth round bye and a holeshot win
in round five didn't hurt, but mostly it

Leo Zynda (far lane) defeated Jack Sepanek in the final.

was Leo's new frame of mind that carried the day. "A while back I said to myself that I was putting
too much pressure on myself at the races. This is supposed to be fun so I took a new approach and
decided to just enjoy myself." It worked, and he has never enjoyed himself as much as he did at
Columbus. Besides winning with the dragster he went deep into eliminations with the Cavalier and he
posted a perfect 9.900 in the fourth round with that car. "It was just one of those days that you
dream about. It is so cool to finally win one."

Another part of the mind games that helped Leo was the fact that he was basically unaware of who he
was running in the final. "It wasn't until after the race that I found out that he (Jack Sepanek)
had just won a national event a week earlier in Charlotte and that he had been to the final round
at this race a year ago. I don't think I was nervous going into that final round, but if I knew all
of that about Jack before the run I probably would have been." What's that old
expression..ignorance is bliss!!

Zynda celebrates win.

After winning his first national event you would think that Leo would be really anxious to get out
and try for a second win, but according to him that will have to wait. "Yeah, I'm done for the
year. When I made my schedule up I figured that Columbus would be my last race and so I scheduled a
couple of car shows to go to. I'm a judge there and I just couldn't leave them hanging." So while
he savors that win, that long-awaited win, he will spend the Michigan winter running his business,
freshening up his cars and working on his new motor coach. "I bought a used NRC coach and I need to
work on it a bit. It should make going to the races easier next year." So, along with his long-time
friend and helper, Paul Turini, Leo will get his trusty Cavalier and his national event winning
dragster all ready for 2014 when he will once again hit the Division 3 races, the Sportsnationals
and a few other national events. The only difference between that and the start of the 2013 season
will be the fact that Leo Zynda is now a national event winner. At last!

Leo added that he wanted to say a special thanks to Paul for retiring so "he can be with me again,"
and to Mike Martin, Nick Serra, Angelo Roberti and all those who have supported him all these
years.